


Well Endings

by got_the_bite



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Guilty Archie, Hurt Jughead Jones, Jughead still loves Betty, Possible Archie/Jughead, Set during 2x05, drug overdose, tailsbethreadsriverdale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 06:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13564755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/got_the_bite/pseuds/got_the_bite
Summary: Archie goes by Jughead's place the night after he told him that Betty no longer wants to see him. He expected to apologize and feel guilty. He didn't expect to save his friend's life...





	Well Endings

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Riverdale Writing Challenge that Tailsbeth is hosting over on Tumblr.
> 
> Prompt: "This can't end well."
> 
> *Not beta-read, so try to ignore all my stupid little grammatical errors.*

A guy in studded black leather bumped into him as he and two others sauntered through the lot.

“Sorry, man…” Archie muttered but only received a chuckle and a carefree salute in return, a leopard print scarf tied around his wrist.

Archie just shook his head and continued on his way, not seeing the point in starting a fight; he felt awful already. And if that was a sign of how the rest of his night was going to go, then maybe he should just turn around and go home.

“This can’t end well…” he muttered to himself, climbing the steps. He shook his head, trying to keep the feeling of defeat from entering his mind already. "C'mon Andrews. Just apologize and try to explain yourself..."

It was cold that night. The sky was clear and a chill had settled without the insulating cloud cover. The moon was bright and cast long shadows around the trailer park, where streetlamps were scarce and working ones even scarcer.

Archie knew he shouldn’t be there, standing at the Jones’ front door at midnight. He’d left Veronica’s party early because he couldn’t stand just how guilty he felt. He shouldn’t be there, not after he’d just crushed his best friend and spitefully shattered his heart in front of those Serpents. He couldn’t stop thinking about the look on his face that afternoon when he left him. The disbelief, the anger, the pain. He could only picture Jughead’s wide eyes as he brushed past him…leaving him there…abandoning his friend…again.

He was a shitty friend; he knew that. He wasn’t sure what he was going to tell Jughead that afternoon, but he certainly wasn’t planning on embarrassing him in front of his dad’s gang. He was going to be gentle and spell it out for him, but in that moment he lost his cool. As soon as he saw the familiar faces of who he’d faced off with the night before…he became jealous. Jughead was paling around with them? He was really turning his back on the Northside? And it all came out. In that moment he had wanted to hurt his friend, because he felt like he had been betrayed.

Not anymore though…Archie realized as soon as he’d gone that he’d never once let Jughead speak. Never once let him explain. Sure he and Betty were worrying about the Black Hood, but Jughead was clearly worrying about something else, and he never once let him explain. He said, “You don’t understand,” but in that moment Archie didn’t want to.

'This really isn’t going to end well…’ he thought again to himself with a deep sigh.

His knuckles quietly rapped on the front door. The windows were dark, but he knew Jughead. After today there was little chance he’d be sleeping tonight.

“Jughead,” Archie called quietly. “It’s me. Can we talk?”

There was only silence on the other side of the door.

"Jughead, please." Archie knocked a little louder. "I’m sorry about how things went down today. I messed up again and I’m a shitty friend. Please Jug, let me in.”

Archie sighed and pushed away from the door. Head bowed in defeat, he was about to leave, when he heard a thud and some shuffling from inside the trailer. He spun to face the door, waiting for it to open…but it never did.

“Jughead?”

A louder thud and the sound of something shattering alerted Archie to the fact that something really wasn’t right. This was further proven by the fact that the front door, Jughead always made sure to lock, opened easily with a jiggle of the handle. He quickly stepped inside and fumbled for the light switch calling out his friend’s name again.

As his eyes adjusted to the light he found Jughead face-down on the floor, halfway from the couch.

“Jug!”

Archie rushed to his friend’s side and turned him over. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily even though it was freezing in his trailer and he was in the white tank he saw him wearing earlier. His breathing was labored and Archie felt his pulse pounding rapidly in his wrist.

“Open your eyes buddy…c’mon…Jug!”

He gently slapped at his cheeks calling his name, and then a bit more forcefully when he didn’t get a response. Jughead’s head lolled from side to side, but slowly his eyes cracked open and he gazed blearily above him.

“Hey, there you go,” Archie muttered quietly as Jughead’s eyes slowly found his friend. “What happened? Jughead, you need to tell me what happened? Was it the Serpents? Did they do something to you?”

Jughead opened his mouth with some difficulty as if his tongue had been coated with glue, like he wanted to say something, but then his eyes rolled back into his head and he arched his back going completely rigid.

“Shit! Jughead!” Archie could only watch as his childhood friend had a seizure while he knelt beside him, feeling completely useless. He quickly pulled out his phone and dialed '911'.

A woman answered, and he was so focused on the fact that Jughead wasn’t breathing right and was turning blue that he wasn’t sure what she said.

“I need an ambulance at Sunnyside Trailer Park. The Jones’ residence!” He shouted into his phone. “My friend is having a seizure!”

“Alright sir, I’m alerting one right now…they’re on their way to you. What's your name?”

"Archie."

"And what's your friend's name?

“Jughead Jones…I don’t think…I don’t think he’s breathing…” Jughead was making these deep gasps but they were far apart and almost sounded like gurgles.

“Okay, I’ll help you until the ambulance arrives. “ The dispatcher's  calm voice on the other line helped Archie focus on what was happening. “First make sure he’s on his side.”

“Alright.” He had some difficulty turning Jughead because he was jerking pretty violently. “Okay he’s on his side.”

“Good, now make sure there’s nothing around him that could hurt him, and try to find something soft to put under his head.”

Archie lept to his feet and rushed to grab a pillow from the couch. On his way he knocked into the coffee table and heard a few things rattle across the surface. He glanced quickly behind him and his heart immediately seemed to stop. His vision tunneled and he froze for a second, his heart pounding in his ears.

Sliding back beside Jughead he grabbed the phone and heard his panicked voice say, “I think he took something! There’s a needle on the table and some powder…”

“Do you know what he took? Do you see any tract marks?”

“I don’t know…” He grabbed Jughead’s arms and looked them up and down. The violent shaking was becoming more like a slight shudder. “Yes, there’s a needle mark…”

“Do you know how much he took?”

“I don’t know!” Jughead gave a weak twitch and then went still. “The seizure stopped!”

“Can you tell me if he’s breathing?”

Archie froze realizing how quiet everything was now. He put his hand on Jughead’s chest and didn’t feel it rise. He put his ear next to his friend’s mouth and didn’t hear the slightest rasp.

“No…no he’s not breathing. He's not breathing!”

“Okay, does he have a pulse?”

Archie grasped at his wrist.

“I…I don’t know. I think so.” Jughead’s lips were tinged blue. “Where is the ambulance?!”

“It’s almost there, but I need you to stay calm and start rescue breathing until they get there."

"I don't know how..."

"I’ll walk you through it. Okay?”

“O-okay.”

“Just stay calm, Archie. Turn Jughead onto his back and tilt his chin up.” Archie did as he was told, but it felt like this entire situation was happening to someone else. Jughead was limp in his grasp. His eyes looked more sunken than usual and his birthmarks stood out starkly on his pale face.

“Okay, now what?”

“Now pinch his nose and place your mouth over his. Breathe for him every 5 to 6 seconds. You'll know it's working if his chest moves up and down.”

Archie couldn’t believe what was happening. As he desperately tried to help his friend, all he could do was ask himself what led to this moment. Could he have stopped this? Was this his fault?

Red and blue lights were flashing through the windows. The woman on the phone said something and then the call was disconnected, but he wasn’t going to stop breathing. He was getting lightheaded but he wouldn’t let himself stop.

He heard footsteps rushing up the steps outside, but he was terrified of stopping.

“Nice job kid, now move aside.” He felt a hand on his shoulder and two men knelt beside him. One taking out an oxygen bag and pumping it over Jughead’s mouth, the other checking his pulse.

“He overdosed on something?”

“Yea…I think so…”

“He have a history?”

“No!" Archie exclaimed, but then realized that he didn't really know what his friend was up to at the moment. "I mean…I don’t know…”

“How long has he been like this?” The man lifted Jughead’s eyelids and shined a light into his eyes. The boy didn’t respond.

“I-I got here about 8 minutes ago…oh god…”

Then there was a flash of a needle quickly being injected and within seconds Jughead’s eyes flew open and he was gasping on his own. His arms flew out and he made a confused noise. The two men turned him on his side and removed the oxygen bag, and before Archie could ask what was happening, Jughead vomited all over the floor. When he seemed finished, the two men went back to work, inserting an IV drip, checking his blood pressure, tapping him on the cheek to keep him awake.

“Hey kid, there we go,” the man’s voice was kind but stern as he replaced the oxygen pump with a simple oxygen mask connected to a tank. “What’s your name?”

“’Ughead…” he murmured his eyes unfocused. His voice was soft as if he’d forgotten how to use it.

“Jughead, what did you take this evening?”

Jughead’s eyelid’s seemed weighted and he blinked slowly. “Take…?”

“Yes, what drugs are you on?”

Jughead’s eyes weren’t focusing and the second EMT finished with his blood pressure cuff.

“This kid’s BP is 140/90 and rising. We need to take him in before he codes.”

“Might be that new strain of Jingle Jangle that’s been going around…”

They carefully lifted him onto the backboard, strapped him in, and made sure his oxygen mask was in place.

“Alright, let’s move. Stay with us Jughead, we’re just taking you for a ride.”

Grabbing his phone where he’d left it on the floor, Archie followed them to the ambulance.

“You coming kid?” the taller one called to him as he loaded Jughead into the back. “Because we gotta go now.”

“Y-yea.” Archie was overwhelmed by everything that had just happened and, with his head swimming, he climbed into the ambulance. He didn’t realize it then, but he held his friend’s hand the entire way to the hospital. Jughead’s fingers were ice.

\---

The hospital didn’t know who to call…and neither did Archie. FP couldn’t be reached at the jail and Archie had no idea on how to contact Mrs. Jones. Betty couldn’t be here because of the Black Hood situation and his list of people who would want to be here dwindled. He honestly didn’t know what he should be doing, so he just sat in an uncomfortable chair and stared at his blank phone like he’d done just a few weeks ago. Instead of having the stickiness of blood on his hands this time around, his hands just held onto the chill of Jughead’s fingers.

He waited. And waited.

And waited.

All he could do was think about his friend writhing on the floor. Think about his friend’s eyes, unfocused and staring blankly past his face. Think about his friend’s heart rate spiking on the way to hospital, causing him to start another set of convulsions. _  
_

He could only think about how this was his entire fault. He shouldn’t have been so cruel. He shouldn’t have abandoned his friend when he left the Northside. He shouldn’t have been so quick to judge.

He thought until his phone went off in his hands; his cold fingers fumbled to answer when he saw the caller id.

“Hey, Dad.” His voice was soft and breathy and reminded him too much of how Jughead sounded on the floor of his trailer.

“Archie, thank god! I thought…Where are you?” His poor father sounded so panicked that Archie somehow managed to feel even worse. Glancing at the clock on the grey walls he noticed it was close to 3am.

“I’m…I’m fine. I-I’m at the hospital.” His voice started to shake. “It’s Jughead.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and Archie could picture his father rubbing his face with his hand.

“I’m on my way.”

Archie didn’t know how long he waited, still holding his phone and staring at the blank screen. The next thing he knew, his father was pulling him into his arms, and that's when he broke into sobs.

The Andrews sat in the waiting room until the sun started to rise. Mr. Andrews leaving once to bring his son a coffee and a bagel that he picked at.

“Are you here for Forsyth Pendleton Jones?” a nurse softly asked. It was an easy guess, considering that the only other person was an obviously homeless man sleeping in the corner by the vending machines. “He’s stable if you’d like to go in and see him.”

\---

  
Archie wanted to run out the door as soon as he stepped into the room. The worst part wasn’t how Jughead looked, he knew what to expect, and as long as he was breathing Archie was okay with it. The worst part was the fact that he couldn’t ask Jughead why. He couldn’t shout at him for doing this to him, to his dad, to Betty. That was the worst part about sitting next to the bed in silence.

Jughead was on a ventilator and his heartbeat was sluggishly pumping on the monitor next to bed. The nurse said that they would hopefully be able to remove the vent later that day, but he didn’t seem to have suffered any permanent damage from the overdose. Fred ran a hand through his hair and said something about trying to reach FP at the jail again to let him know what was going on.

Archie sat facing Jughead and the door, waiting for anyone else to come by. He was hoping that any of Jughead’s new “friends,” who must’ve been the ones who introduced him to the new strain of Jingle Jangle, would be brave enough to show themselves.

And suddenly Archie was fuming just thinking about the Serpents. He was sure that they did this. He saw Jughead go off with them that afternoon. What if this was some initiation ceremony gone wrong? Or what if the Serpents wanted FP’s son gone, so they could promote a new leader of the gang? They had to be behind this, and they didn't even care enough to show themselves. They were going to leave him to die and if Archie hadn't shown up...

He angrily pulled out his phone. More than anything, he wanted to call Betty to let her know what was going on, but he didn’t want her to get into any more trouble with the Black Hood. His finger tapped another name.

“Hey, Veronica? I need you to do something for me.”

\---

It was pouring rain as Archie approached the bar. The neon green serpent sign stood out through the fog and it made Archie’s blood boil.  He had spotted them standing beneath the overhang, the white lettering starkly stating “The White Wyrm”. His feet pounded in the gravel as he stomped towards the group. There were about four or five of them outside in their leather jackets. One or two were smoking, but none seemed to notice him until he grabbed the tallest one by the jacket and spun him around to face him.

“What did you do?!” he shouted up into the face of Sweet Pea.

The five seemed stunned at the audacity of this Northsider. Sweet Pea, already quick to anger, even quicker now since this Northsider had shown up on their turf once before, blinked once before the fury started to build. Two of his Serpent friends took a step back.

“Are you high?” the young Southsider asked trying to keep his anger in check before he absolutely lost it.

“Yesterday, to Jughead. What did you do to him?!?” Archie was having trouble forming complete thoughts. All he saw was Jughead writhing on the floor of his trailer, Jughead not breathing beneath his hands, Jughead’s Serpent jacket smiling at him on a chair…

“Whoa, whoa whoa! Hang on there, Andrews!” a female voice piped up from the doorway of the bar. “What happened to Jughead?”

Archie turned to face a wide-eyed Toni. Then before he knew what was happening, Sweet Pea had him by the collar of his Letterman jacket and pushed him up against the siding of the bar.

“Sweet Pea!” Toni shouted grabbing at the arm holding Archie against the wall. "Stop it!"

“This is what I’m talking about,” he shouted. “Northsiders thinking we’re always behind something. It’s _always_ the Serpents fault!”

“Sweet Pea, he said something happened to Jug. Let him go!” The larger teen lowered his arm with a grunt that expressed his unhappiness. Archie rubbed at his neck, but the jolt snapped him out of his rage enough to think clearly. “Thank you. Now, what are you talking about, Archie.”

“You Serpents almost killed him!”

Sweet Pea raised a fist and looked like he was about to swing, but Toni held up her hand.

“What are you talking about? We haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon, and he was fine.”

“Well one of you had to have given him the Jingle Jangle he overdosed on, because I don’t know where else he would’ve gotten it!”

There was a pause as the six young Serpents stared at Archie, clearly not expecting this to be the news.

“Oh my god…is he okay?” Toni gasped.

“He will be, no thanks to you snakes…”

Sweet Pea’s eyes showed pure rage, but he managed to keep his clenched fists at his sides. “I don’t know what you think you’re talking about, Andrews. He left us about half an hour after you stopped by to see him. Said he wasn’t in the right mindset to go through with the gauntlet that night, and after what you did to him I don’t blame him.”

“Sweet Pea…” Toni warned.

Archie’s cheeks burned. His eyes stung. “No, let him say it,” he growled.

“You’re the one who fucking broke him. If he wanted something to erase the memory of what you’d done to him, I don’t blame him. But don’t come waltzing around here like you’re some northside saint…”

Archie roared and charged forward, tackling Sweet Pea around the middle just as if he were on the football field. He landed on top of him as they skid in the gravel. He managed to get one swing in before he was thrown off and received a punch to the jaw. There was shouting around them as more Serpents appeared from inside the bar. Toni had grabbed a hold of Archie, who threw her down causing Sweet Pea to snarl and lurch on top of him, pinning his arms down with his knees. Archie received a blow that he knew would result in a black eye and lay there staring at the stars swirling around him.

“What is going on here?!” an older voice shouted. The commotion, that had built in a matter of moments by the onlookers, was silenced. “Toni, what the hell?”

“Tall Boy,” she said somewhere to the right of where Archie was laying in the gravel. “Jughead overdosed last night, and we’re all just a little of upset.”

“FP’s kid? Does he know?” The older Serpent's voice was shocked.

Archie pulled himself up; seeing fewer stars he gave a curt nod.

“Shit…” Tall Boy muttered. “Does he need anything? Is he going to be okay?”

“He should be, but I doubt he needs anything from you…”

“Hey, kid, you better watch yourself. We’re just trying to help.” Tall Boy walked over to where Archie sat in the dirt and held out his hand. Archie stared for a second before taking it getting to his feet. “And for the record, Serpents aren’t involved in that shit.”

Archie looked sullenly towards where Sweet Pea and Toni were standing in front of the rest of the crowd. “Sorry…” he muttered.

Toni opened her mouth like she wanted to say something but Archie turned his back before she could. He sullenly limped back towards his truck.

“Wait!” Toni appeared at his elbow, a slip of torn paper in her hand. He blinked at her as she wrapped his bruised fingers around it. “Call me if you find out anything.”

Archie tried to shrug her off, but before he could leave Toni’s tightened her hold on him.

“Archie, please. We care about him too.”

“I didn’t think he was a Serpent yet.”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t care,” she said softly. “Please.”

Archie gave a nod this time. “Alright, I will.”

Toni gave a warm squeeze of her hand before letting him leave.

\---

  
“Any change?”

Veronica looked up from Archie's old seat next to Jughead’s bed. Archie didn’t want to leave him alone and, since Betty couldn’t be near him, he called on her. He knew the two weren’t very close, both were from totally different worlds, but he also knew Veronica had a caring heart. He could depend on her to be there for him.

“No, but the nurse came in awhile ago and said that it was normal…oh my god, what happened?” She stood and rushed to Archie’s side, cradling his bruised face. He’d managed to wash up a little bit, but the bruises would take time.

Archie thought about lying, but knew he wasn't very good. “I went to see the Serpents and…it didn’t go well…”

“They did this to you?!”

“Wait, Ronnie! Before you start accusing them of jumping me, know that I started it. I was angry and wanted to blame someone. I wasn’t thinking…”

“Oh, Archie-kins…” Veronica raised her hand from his cheek to run through his hair. “What can I do? Let me help you. Please.”

Archie sighed. He wanted her to stay but knew she would be better doing something else. “Can you…can you go to Betty? Let her know what’s going on.”

Veronica looked surprised.

“She can’t be here. It’s a long story, and I know you’re mad at her right now but...please?”

She nodded. “Okay…you’ll be alright here by yourself?”

“Yea. My dad should be done with work soon, and besides...I’d like to sit with him alone for a bit.”

“Oh, Archie-kins, you always look out for everyone don’t you?” She gave him a kiss, short but meaningful, before leaving. “Call if anything changes.”

Archie wanted to tell her how wrong she was. If he’d looked out for everyone, then why was Jughead here?

\---

  
“Hey…” a cracked whisper rasped out in the quiet of the room.

Archie’s head shot up and his eyes left their unfocused gaze on the white tiles. The doctor had taken Jughead off the ventilator about an hour ago and said it should only be a matter of time before he woke up. His hand was holding Jughead’s atop the hospital comforter and he let go with a gentle squeeze.

“It was you…I knew that part had to be real.” Jughead gave a half smile at his friend. His black hair was a stark contrast to his pale face; it lay ruffled across his forehead.

“Huh?”

“Coming around my place…I knew that wasn’t a dream.”

Archie wanted to smile back, but he couldn’t really muster one up. He felt guilt at himself and anger at Jughead. He didn’t want to be alone with Jughead. He was afraid of saying the wrong thing. He was terrified he’d make this situation worse if they talked about it or that he would blow up at him for scaring him to death.

Jughead started to cough at the raspy feeling the ventilator left behind and Archie jumped at the opportunity to help him sip some water from the glass by the bed.

“I…I should go and get the doctor…” he mumbled not meeting Jughead’s eyes and getting to his feet. Jughead grabbed Archie’s hand before he could go.

“Not yet, Arch, fill me in first. What day is it? What happened? Why does it look like you got beat up?”

Archie hesitated, but couldn't bring himself to pull away. “Ok…”

Jughead was trying to sit up and Archie, seeing this, helped him move his pillows and elevate his bed a bit.

“Well I found you Saturday night, and it's late Sunday," he asked sitting back into his chair. "What do you remember?” he asked, ignoring the last question Jughead asked.

Jughead’s brow furrowed. “I remember that afternoon. You came by…with Betty’s message. I was supposed to go to the Gauntlet, but Toni saw how upset I was and said we could postpone it a few days. I went home and…” He paused thinking and looking like it hurt to think so hard. “I was in trouble…something wasn’t right…you were there though and I felt safe. I don’t know why…”

“You overdosed on Jingle Jangle Jughead!” Archie’s voice was louder than he’d meant, but he was angry that he didn’t remember what he’d done. Didn’t remember how panicked Archie had been. “You almost died! If I hadn’t had come by to check on you after the whole Betty thing…” He sighed loudly, the rage he’d felt being replaced by guilt. He ran a hand down his face refusing to look at his friend.

“What…?” Jughead made a confused sound, but didn’t have time to form words.

“Why Jug? Why did you do it?” Archie asked quietly.

“Do what?” Jughead asked, his eyes wide.

“Take that shit?”

“You think…you think I did this? Because of Betty? Because of you?”

“You mean to say… you didn’t try to...to kill yourself?”

“No! Of course not! I couldn’t do that you her…I couldn’t do that to you…” Jughead brought his IV free hand to his face. “Oh god…you thought I…”

“Then what happened?” Archie interrupted, his heart pounding. He needed to know that Jughead was telling the truth. He needed to know that he wasn't to blame...

“I don’t remember…”

“What do you mean you don’t…”

“Archie! I don’t remember!” Jughead’s cheeks flushed and the heart monitor to the side of the bed showed how agitated he was.

“Ok, Jug…ok,” Archie said quietly and trying to think. “Could it have been the Serpents? Trying to initiate you or scare you?”

“No! They wouldn’t because of the code. I might not be one yet, but they wouldn’t do that to my dad. Bbesides the Serpents don’t peddle hard drugs. A bit of weed but…no…this shit reeks of…the Ghoulies...”

“Who?”

“The Serpents’ rival gang,” Jughead said not really focusing on Archie as his mind raced trying to put his missing pieces together. “They jumped me when I first started at Southside High…”

“What? How did I not know this?” Archie sat up straighter in his chair.

“We’ve all been busy…”

“But Jughead…”

“What? I’m sure there are plenty of things you don’t tell me…”

Archie closed his mouth and stayed quiet this time, and Jughead focused on picking at his blanket.

“Jug…I’m sorry for how things went down before…”

“Don’t, Archie,” Jughead interrupted still not looking up. “It’s fine…”

“Jughead, it’s not fine. I was cruel and I didn’t have to be.” Archie sighed again. “You’re right. There are things going on that I can’t tell you, and I can’t go into details really but…staying away from Betty is one of them.”

The Southsider looked up slowly, his eyes barely meeting Archie’s. “She still cares about you a lot and I know that she will let you know what’s going on as soon as she can…”

Jughead gave a short nod and Archie cleared his throat.

“So…these Ghoulies. What are they like?”

“You mean besides assholes?” Jughead let out a short laugh. “Well…take the Serpents and cover them in studs, skulls, and animal prints…”

“Wait!” Archie interrupted. “Studded leather and animal print?”

“Yea, why?”

Archie sat remembering the night he went to the Sunnyside Trailer Park.

“I saw them,” he whispered.

“Huh?”

“Right before I knocked on your door. Three of them ran into me. I didn’t think anything of it, but none had serpents on their jackets…they were coming from the direction of your place…”

Jughead leaned forward, looking closely at Archie’s face.

“Was one tall? Looked like he belonged in a glam-rock version of the Lords of Dogtown?”

Archie thought about the one who chuckled and saluted him.

“Yes!” he exclaimed standing. “The one who bumped into me.”

“Malachi…” Jughead muttered, then his eyes widened. “Wait! I remember…there was a knock and I thought…I thought Toni had come by to fill me in on when the Gauntlet would be, but it wasn’t her. They grabbed my arm and stuck me…and laughed. Then they…they staged it!”

Archie quickly got to his feet and started for the door.

“I’m going to call Sheriff Keller. We can't let them get away with this,” he said quickly as he reached for the door handle. “I'm also going to call my dad and Toni. So they know you're okay, and so they can get a hold of your dad.”

"He is probably freaking out right now...wait. How do you have Toni's number?"

Archie stood awkwardly at the door, his face getting red. "I might have picked a fight with some Serpents earlier..."

"You didn't..." he groaned. "I manage to smooth things over with you guys and..."

"They were worried about you." Archie's words caused Jughead to freeze. "I trust them. You made new friends and I'm being unfair to them. Anyone who has your back, I trust. You do what you have to do."

Jughead gave Archie a nod and a smile. "Thanks," he said quietly.

"I mean...you need all the help you can get," Archie chuckled and opened the door with a click. He made to move out when Jughead's still quiet voice stopped him.

“Archie…” He looked back to the figure on the bed. “Can you let Betty know too? I don’t want her to think…”

“Yea, Jug…I will.”

“You realize you're my best friend right?"

"Yea, bud, and you're mine."

Archie smiled thinking to himself that this ending was far from over, but if they simply stuck together it would end well.

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I proofread this more, but I didn't want to miss out on this deadline. I also tried to write this so it would only be a one-shot, so I tried to tie up as many loose ends as possible. I don't know if I like that or not. I can't let myself get sucked into writing chapter fics though, I have zero time for them! 
> 
> I had this idea in my head since seeing Jughead face-off with the Ghoulies this season. I wish we knew more about them; I was having trouble finding anything on the wiki about them.
> 
> Anyway...he was some more Hurt!Jughead mess...I know I'm not the only one out there who can't get enough of this.


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